July 2025
Issue brief A US strategy to win the next conflict Clementine Starling-Daniels Amid rising global tensions and rapid technological change, the forthcoming National Defense Strategy is set to reshape US military strategy. Its success hinges on five key priorities.
Bottom lines up front •
In its forthcoming National Defense Strategy (NDS), the second Donald Trump administration must reaffirm that defending the US homeland—particularly against nuclear, cyber, space-based, and other strategic threats—is the foremost obligation of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the foundation of credible deterrence abroad. It should clearly prioritize China as the primary competitor of the United States, recognizing, recognizing the need to counter Beijing’s influence not only in the Indo-Pacific but globally.
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The US military must pursue transformational changes in force structure, operational concepts, and joint warfighting doctrine to be able to effectively conduct integrated, multi-domain combined arms operations in an era of artificial intelligence and human-machine teaming.
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Space must be treated as a warfighting domain in its own right, as well as a critical enabler of US homeland defense and power projection, requiring increased investments in offensive and defensive space capabilities.
Shaping US defense in a time of evolving global threats Who is the biggest threat to the United States—and what should the military do about it? Where should the United States position its forces around the world? How should the US military adapt to the age of artificial intelligence (AI) and the weaponization of space? These are just some of the questions that must be addressed in the next National Defense Strategy (NDS), the foundational document through which any new administration articulates its vision for US defense policy. Published by the Department of Defense (DoD), it establishes the principles that guide US military force
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design, capability development, global posture, operational planning, and resource allocation. The second Trump administration’s forthcoming effort is no ordinary NDS. It will define the DoD’s defense posture, US force structure, and modernization priorities for the next four years in a period of intensifying strategic competition, rapid technological disruption, and evolving global threats. In March 2025, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued a classified interim strategic guidance on national defense, signaling the administration’s initial defense priorities. While the full details of this guidance remain classified, publicly available information